Are Smartwatches a Suitable Tool to Monitor Noise Exposure for Public Health Awareness and Otoprotection?

Fischer, Tim; Schraivogel, Stephan; Caversaccio, Marco; Wimmer, Wilhelm (2022). Are Smartwatches a Suitable Tool to Monitor Noise Exposure for Public Health Awareness and Otoprotection? Frontiers in neurology, 13, p. 856219. Frontiers Media S.A. 10.3389/fneur.2022.856219

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Introduction and Objectives: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and tinnitus are common problems that can be prevented with hearing protection measures. Sound level meters and noise dosimeters enable to monitor and identify health-threatening occupational or recreational noise, but are limited in their daily application because they are usually difficult to operate, bulky, and expensive. Smartwatches, which are becoming increasingly available and popular, could be a valuable alternative to professional systems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of smartwatches for accurate environmental noise monitoring.
Methods: The A-weighted equivalent continuous sound pressure level (LAeq) was recorded and compared between a professional sound level meter and a popular smartwatch. Noise exposure was assessed in 13 occupational and recreational settings, covering a large range of sound pressure levels between 35 and 110 dBA. To assess measurement agreement, a Bland-Altman plot, linear regression, the intra-class correlation coefficient, and descriptive statistics were used.
Results: Overall, the smartwatch underestimated the sound level meter measurements by 0.5 dBA (95% confidence interval [0.2, 0.8]). The intra-class correlation coefficient showed excellent agreement between the two devices (ICC = 0.99), ranging from 0.65 (music club) to 0.99 (concert) across settings. The smartwatch’s sampling rate decreased significantly with lower sound pressure levels, which could have introduced measurement inaccuracies in dynamic acoustic environments.
Conclusions: The assessment of ambient noise with the tested smartwatch is sufficiently accurate and reliable to improve awareness of hazardous noise levels in the personal environment and to conduct exploratory clinical research. For professional and legally binding measurements, we recommend specialized sound level meters or noise dosimeters. In the future, smartwatches will play an important role in monitoring personal noise exposure and will provide a widely available and cost-effective measure for otoprotection.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Head Organs and Neurology (DKNS) > Clinic of Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders (ENT)
10 Strategic Research Centers > ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research
10 Strategic Research Centers > ARTORG Center for Biomedical Engineering Research > ARTORG Center - Hearing Research Laboratory

UniBE Contributor:

Fischer, Tim Alois, Schraivogel, Stephan Christopher, Caversaccio, Marco, Wimmer, Wilhelm

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

1664-2295

Publisher:

Frontiers Media S.A.

Language:

English

Submitter:

Wilhelm Wimmer

Date Deposited:

29 Mar 2022 10:51

Last Modified:

01 Jan 2023 02:01

Publisher DOI:

10.3389/fneur.2022.856219

PubMed ID:

35432148

Uncontrolled Keywords:

LAeq, noise exposure, noise dosimetry, wearables, ecological assessment, otoprotection, tinnitus, big data

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/167865

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/167865

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